March 15-21 agenda: Baselworld opens in Switzerland

Next week's selection offers the most important watch and jewelry fair in Basel, the Hong Kong international film festival, a gathering of tech-savvy professionals in Shanghai, St Patrick's Day celebrations throughout the world, and the South American Games in Medellin, among other events.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
March 15
Waldorf Astoria Hotel
New York City, USA

ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges will be inducted as performers at the 2010 Induction Ceremony for the 25th edition of the event.
http://www.rockhall.com

Shanghai International IT and Electronics Fair and SEMICON China
March 16-18
Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre (SNIEC)
Shanghai, China

More than 100,000 professional visitors are expected to attend SEMICON China 2010, an event that will once again be held under the banner of the Shanghai International IT and Electronics Fair. For the first time, SEMICON China will be held in co-location with SOLARCON China and FPD China. The massive "industry flagship event" is targeted at professionals working in the microelectronics market. Highlights of the 2010 SEMICON China include theme pavilions focusing on innovation, green manufacturing and sustainable development and a thorough program of technology conferences that includes the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC 2010), The 6th China SoG Silicon and PV Power Conference, and the 2010 China FPD Conference.
http://semiconchina.semi.org/scchina-en/index.htm

St Patrick's Day
March 17
Worldwide

The holiday in honor of the father of Irish Christianity has nowadays turned into a secular festival that encourages participants to dress in green, watch green parades and paint shamrocks - an Irish symbol - on their faces. Dublin is of course the top place to be to celebrate this Irish event on March 17, however, many other cities throughout the world organize St Paddy's parades like Sydney, Chicago, and even Shanghai.


Art Dubai
March 17-20
Madinat Jumeirah
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Whilst relatively new on the art scene, Art Dubai has become a hub for contemporary art from the Middle East region. The third edition of Art Dubai attracted 14,000 visitors in 2009. The 2010 arts festival will encompass the unveiling of the artworks by this year's recipients of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize; a prestigious watch exhibition curated by Van Cleef & Arpels; film screenings, talks and performances at Art Park; architectural tours, performances and talks as part of Contemparabia 2010.
http://www.artdubai.ae

Bocuse d'Or Asia
March 17-19
Pudong Expo
Shanghai, China

The second annual competition, co-located with Gourmet World Shanghai (an industry tradeshow devoted to international gourmet foods), is a continental event organized by the Bocuse d'Or committee to pre-select the four best teams that will compete at the annual prestigious final Bocuse d'Or 2011 in Lyon, France in January. Teams of chefs will be representing 12 Asian nations and the "Best Commis-Assistant" will be awarded in addition to three monetary prizes. http://www.bocusedorasia.com/

Baselworld
March 18-25
Basel, Switzerland

The biggest watch and jewelry fair in the world, Baselworld attracts a yearly 100,000 visitors. Exhibitors range from luxury watch manufacturers to fashion brands and jewelers with the event being regarded as the most important trendmaker for the year.
http://www.baselworld.com

IX South American Games
March 19-30
Medellín, Colombia

Though in the past the games featured regional sports such as bocce, a variant on bowls, and popular soccer derivative futsal, this year's South American Games go for more standard Olympic fare with sports such as swimming, cycling, fencing, martial arts, weightlifting, and of course track & field. The city of Medellín has been determined to embrace the Games' spirit of equality and fairness by distributing free tickets to residents for the opening ceremony.
http://www.medellin2010.org

34th Hong Kong International Film Festival
March 21-April 06
Hong Kong Museum of Art
Hong Kong

This renowned film festival, the oldest in Asia, features Asian blockbusters as well as indies, showing up to 300 films from around the world. Asia's "cinema city'' holds its annual festival which is bookended by the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards while running concurrently with the influential FilmArt industry market.
http://www.hkiff.org.hk